Utterly brilliant from start to finish
Wow!From start to finish this is a brilliant drama. The main characters have so much chemistry (even when she does want to stab him in the eye with a chopstick) and their support teams are fabulous with plenty of amusing moments to further elevate this story. Fabulous costumes, fight scenes and attention to detail round off this production.
Not gonna lie, there is plenty of blood and drama with believable bad guys and the odd death thrown in..
Had me hooked very quickly and binge watched the whole thing as I just couldn’t put it down.
Will definitely watch this again.
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Bit disappointed TBH
After the tragic ending of One and Only and the vow FL lead made at the end, I expected more from this sequel.I felt the chemistry was lacking most of the way through, there was no alluding to their past until she fell off the balcony (whatever happened to the bad guy? A vague comment from the parents…) and I get that Allen Ren may have signed a no kissing agreement but they didn’t even hug or show any form of physical affection either in public or private made this majorly frustrating and frankly unbelievable.
The only upside was the lawyer who was great eye candy and a brilliant actor and the occasional bit of light relief.
If you want a slow burn romance that only really comes alive in the last few episodes then perhaps this is for you but I found the whole thing a bit dreary
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Not really a love story, more how a man’s loyalties lead to his destruction
I found this c drama a bit frustrating as the only person who seemed to stick to the rules was the ML.The whole royal family seemed oblivious to how respectful the ML was and make him out to be a disloyal, manipulative and conniving liar and after a while this frustrated the heck out of me.
His ending is so exasperating as no one with any real power could see him for who he really was.
I found the FL a bit wishy washy and about the only thing she did to stand up for herself was her final act.
Definitely not going to watch this again
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Not your typical romance plot, it’s even better
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this drama but after watching a really angsty number I needed something that was a little lighter.This story did not disappoint although at times I wanted to strangle most of the mothers who all seemed too selfish for words (and this includes Li JianJian’s who died from pregnancy complications) the plot, which was compelling, is all about loyalty, family values, forgiveness and love.
This drama tells the story of three kids, 2 boys and a girl and two men who become an unlikely family brought together by circumstance. A kindly widow and his daughter, a divorcee and his son and a boy abandoned by his single mother. They protect each other through thick and thin and despite situations beyond the control of the 2 lads that lead to the family being split up, they find their way back to each other and once the wounds created by their separation heal, their bonds become even stronger.
Tan Song Yun was incredible in this. I usually find her a bit mumsy but she epitomised her character, a pint sized trouble maker, perfectly. Whoever selected the other main actors and the supporting cast should be applauded as they were all incredible and brought real depth and breadth to their characters and the story as a whole. I’m already a great fan of Song Wei Long and He Rui Xian but I’ll be keeping an eye out for Zhang Xin Chen and An Ge as well.
The kids who played the younger versions of the 3 pseudo siblings were incredible. They’ll all be one to watch as they grow up. If they keep in the industry they’ll be superstars.
I only really docked a point for the soundtrack because I never really noticed it - was too subtle most of the time - but perhaps that is the job of background music.
Would I watch this again? Absolutely
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A believable BL story that will have you rooting for the main characters
Not sure how I stumbled upon this drama but I’m glad I stayed to the end because the characters were so believable and the plot was (mainly) really good.This is, simply put, a story about redemption, trust and love.
The story starts out as simple revenge where the innocent and naive male protagonist (Wu Suowei) is dumped by his gold digger of a girlfriend (Yue Yue) who is dissatisfied by his financial status. She then goes hunting for a wealthy boyfriend and hones in on Chi Cheng the jaded, bored gay son of a wealthy chairman who is being pressured into marriage by his unsuspecting parents. Wu Suowei decides to break her heart by pretending to be interested in Chi Cheng in the hopes of splitting them up and goes from a straight man to a man who “I don’t know if I like men or not, but I like you”. The story not only covers these two men, but another couple Jiang Xiao Shuai (Wu Suowei’s best friend) and Guo Chengyu (Chi Chang’s bestie) and their developing relationship.
There are plot twists and turns, funny bits, sad bits as well as a few more characters who try to muddy the waters between Wu Suowei and Chi Cheng. Their developing feelings and reactions to these situations all add honesty and credibility to both this story and the characters they portray.
The only part of the plot that I found ludicrous was when Chi Chang’s father decided to kidnap Wu Suowei. The ensuing scenes may have made more sense in the mother tongue but certainly were of little value to the overall plot when google translate ( or whatever software they used - it clearly wasn’t translated by a human) got involved. I deducted points for this bizarre chapter, although I’m guessing the father was trying to persuade Wu Suowei to stay away from his son.
Would I watch this again? Absolutely but with headphones on and no one else around to see the seriously steamy ‘sex’ scenes. Kudos to the straight actors for making it all so believable.
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Fabulous story with great humour but ending was just too meh
The cast, acting, costumes, production values and fight scenes were excellent in this well written and often very funny gem of a drama.I loved watching Liu Xue Yi as the male lead Yuan Zhong and Tiffany Tang as the female lead, Ji Tan Yin. They played their parts brilliantly and brought lots of humour to the first 3/4 of the drama. From the get go, they had chemistry as their relationship developed from High Priest and pesky handmaiden who won’t leave him alone to two people very much in love. The other actors were also very well cast and I really enjoyed them all as they added humour. After all, who doesn’t love a very unpredictable, gold guzzling 4 year old Spirit Warrior or an artist who hits on the FL much to the disgust of the very jealous ML?
Unfortunately though I thought the ending was too bitty so I marked the drama down because of it - my understanding is that the fault lies with IQIYI who cut the last few episodes. Did Mei Shan really only get to be a God for one day, if so why not just let him become part of the tapestry? Why didn’t the Thunder Gods get involved at the end of the conflict and reward the heroes and rescue the fallen? Did Yuan Zhong take up the invite to become a God? Was the ladder permanently fixed?
All in all a lovely watch but I’m not sure I want to watch anything else that Liu Xue Yi has been in as this isn’t the first time his love interest dies and makes me blub like a complete saddo.
Would I watch it again? If I wanted a light hearted, feel good drama (ok, the ending left a lot to be desired) then absolutely
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Came for Liu Yuning, fell in love with the whole cast
I started watching this for Liu Yuning but quickly the rest of the cast enchanted me too. However, if you’re looking for a story with a happy ending perhaps this one is not for you as I cried through the last few episodes and the final scene left me so so sad.The story revolves around a stupid, selfish Emperor who falsely condemns a group of warriors who die while protecting him. He gets kidnapped by an enemy kingdom and a retired general / head of one of 6 spy divisions, played by Yuning, leads a team tasked with rescuing him. This general takes up the challenge as he is determined to clear the names of the fallen warriors all of whom were personally known to him and his men.
The task force sent to bring the emperor home is made up of a shy and pathetic Princess disguised as a prince, an assassin from the enemy country bent on revenge against the people that killed her benefactor and men from the country’s 6 spy divisions many of whom all have their own reasons for volunteering.
There story has it all: action, romance, plot twists, fantastic character growth (the princess grows a backbone of steel), love, bonds of friendship and trust.
Liu Yuning’s character Ning Yuan Zhou is dynamic, funny, strong, vulnerable, you name it, he portrays it really well. Liu Shi Shi is brilliant as the kick ass, strong female lead Ren Xin and she is everything a strong female assassin should be wrapped up in a complex and sometimes vulnerable conundrum.
The other stand out performances of this series for me were He Lan Dou who plays Princess Yan who morphs from a pathetic, coddled and innocent young girl into a fearless woman of substance and Chen You Wei who played Yuan Lu a happy go lucky young lad with a life limiting illness.
The rest of the cast are incredibly well chosen and they provide humour and their own back stories and character development that helps to bring this story to life.
Would I watch it again? Absolutely
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Cute and great binge watch drama
This is the first short that I’ve seen and I found it to be the perfect antidote to a much heavier standard format drama (with an angst ridden plot line).The characters were believable and fell in love slowly and naturally and the ending was perfect.
My only complaint was that the director didn’t change the actors’ costumes so one minute the sister is at a party wearing this incredible white trouser suit and the next day she’s shopping with the FL in the same outfit. Similar situation with the FL and ML too - there’s one blouse that she wears that you’re going to see way too often and a suit he practically lives in at one point. That said, there’s nothing else that I could really criticise about this drama.
The acting was great - the male lead went from sensible and focused one moment to super cute (with a genuine swoon worthy crooked grin) or dominant in a heartbeat and the FL morphed from a shy young adult into a confident woman through the course of the plot line.
Would I watch it again? Absolutely
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Lots to love and hate about this drama
The twist, windy, curveball filled plot follows two characters who seem to love and hate each other with equal passion yet the plot only starts to make any sense once the FL (Hua Ru Yue, AKA the Grandmaster of the Yinlian Sect AKA immortal goddess Siling) steps out from behind her poor quality junior cultivator disguise (Li Qing Yue) and the viewer realises they’ve met before and that there is a huge amount of baggage between them.Her love interest / arch nemesis Bai Juisi ( AKA Immortal Lord of Dacheng) knows who she is even disguised as the helpless yet adorably naive Li Qing Yue and eventually forces her to admit who she really is. Once the truth is out, this sets the storyline for several of the characters who love or hate her depending on how they first met her, mostly these views never change.
The supporting actors are brilliant and there are some fantastic and often funny one liners from them (especially in the beginning when half of the Yinlian Sect head honchos can’t recall Bai Lu’s character and even her master has almost no idea who she is!).
What to love: phenomenal acting from every member of the cast, beautiful costumes with great production values and excellent choreographed fight scenes. The emotions that the characters experience are so raw, honest and believable. There is excellent attention to detail in terms of what supporting cast are up to when the main characters in a scene are doing their thing. For example, ML turns into a petulant child that can be seen kicking furniture with boredom as the ‘grown ups’ discuss how to deal with the baddie!
What to get frustrated about: The story is told piece meal, flitting back and forth between present day and flashbacks which keeps the viewer guessing though at times this does tend to confuse somewhat until more of the puzzle pieces emerge. Additionally, although everything turns out well in the end the final scenes are a little confusing and the viewer has to rack their brains to understand the refences made by Hua Ru Yue and put them into context. Also at the end the baddie gets a complete change of fate and therefore has no need to turn evil but this absolute 180 doesn’t make sense as there should have been some sort of butterfly effect and there isn’t..
Overall a great watch and the music is wonderful. Would I watch it again? Absolutely, even if just for Joseph Zeng’ puppy dog eyes 😍
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Not to be missed, 10/10 all the way
My absolute favourite drama ever.From the very beginning of the opening scenes, I’ve cackled with laughter and enjoyed every part of the journey of the leads and second leads and their bonkers family.
Don’t get me wrong there are some really tearjerk moments amongst the laughter but this only adds to the whole story.
Beautiful writing, fabulous acting and brilliant all round entertainment. 😍😍😍
Oh, and I need an alpaca in my life after watching this!
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Lots of epic scenes and a barrage of emotion
I binge watched this but due to not having a subscription to Youku many of the scenes (often pivotal) were missing so I’ve had to scrabble around on YouTube to fill in some (but sadly not all) of the gaps. It would probably pay to subscribe to get the complete picture.The story while complex and brilliant is sometimes frustrating when the main characters put themselves in harm’s way without proper backup.
As the chapters pass the main characters grow and develop beautifully so that when some of them die, it is both heartbreaking and memorable. The lad who plays Shrimp is an incredible actor and I hope he goes on to other things.
The ending was open so that although we know ML is dying, we do not know exactly what happened. Did he really leave to die alone? Difficult to say although his SiC is absent from the last few scenes. I hope he didn’t as she begged him not to but that’s just my take on things.
Cannot fault any of the acting but as usual Zhao Lusi and Liu Yuning were exemplary and had incredible chemistry.
Would I watch this again? Absolutely, provided I could get the complete storyline with every scene included
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Should be called manipulative mother takes over
Very surprised by this drama as most things with Xu Kai and Yang Zi in are fabulous but this was very disappointing.Plot was very thin and if her mother had been in my life I would have excommunicated her in about chapter 6. Who arranges an engagement party behind their daughter’s back to a man she broke up with months before and is surprised when it does down about as well as a pork pie in a synagogue.
The love story between FL and ML is flimsy at best although both Xu Kai and Yang Zi act their socks off, especially in the sadder parts of this story when some of the characters die.
That said most of the actors and their acting skills are believable and there are a few amusing moments (mainly at the expense of Xu Kai) even though the plot is terrible.
Wouldn’t bother again, sadly
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Boy, what a ride of emotions
I sobbed my way through this from about half way through!This is a powerful story of love, honour and sacrifice that had me hooked from early on. Although the main characters took a while to warm up, by the end you’ll be rooting for them so much.
Set across two main plot lines (that involve the same characters) over a long period of time, it gets interesting in the second half as the FL gains snippets of information from what happened earlier in her life.
ML plays 2 distinct characters and it takes a while for the truth to be uncovered but when it is, boy will the tears start again.
Been a while since I watched this and I think it may be time to watch it again
UPDATE:
Absolutely my favourite c drama ever. This is the second time of watching it and it was even better than the first time. It was the first c drama I ever came across and I only watched it a second time as I wondered if my lingering positive feelings were OTT - first drama rose coloured spectacles and all that - they weren’t. From start to finish this was breathtaking, silly, funny, frustrating, anger inducing, poignant and powerful. Everyone should watch this at least once ❤😍😍
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I hate the script writers who had me sobbing like a baby at the end! In my top 5
I stumbled across this little gem quite by chance and nearly didn’t bother with it as the reviews are really mixed.The plot follows a hapless actress who picks up tiny bit parts here and there, her manager, a fellow actress at the top of her game and 2 boys who she interacts with briefly in her childhood who re-enter her life and change it forever.
Both of the boys adore her for her bravery and courage from the moment they first meet one fateful day. One comes from a broken home and he directs his heartbreak first into being an aggressive bully and then later into a savvy yet shallow businessman. The image of the little girl who fought him off ‘that day’ stays with him and when they meet up again as adults he is determined to make her his. The other has a life limiting congenital heart problem who morphs from timid victim into a wealthy business genius knowing he is running out of time. His one aim is to repay the kindness shown to him by the little girl who protects him from the bully on ‘that day’.
As the story progresses the FL realises her strength lies in playing action characters and she becomes an overnight sensation when she takes on a role that could have been written for her and her life intertwines with the 2 men mentioned earlier without her knowing that they are from her past.
The drama starts off quite happily, bumbling along and by the time I reached the 3rd episode I wondered why I was bothering to continue watching as it all seemed a bit dull and pedestrian and the weird shaggy hairdo of the FL was really off putting (she’s so beautiful and call me shallow if you will, but her natural hair is gorgeous) but I don’t like to put a book or drama down so I persevered. I’m so glad I did as the actors were brilliant and I fell in love with both Connie Kang who played Zheng Ying and Zhang Chen Xiao (who looks like Xu Kai’s younger brother, they’re even the same height) who played Shen Yi Fan. The supporting actors were also very well cast and the little lad who played the actress’s son was such a cutie and pretty believable for one so young.
Production values, costumes and scenery were top notch too.
By the time I reached episode 22 I was sobbing (literally) and even with less than 30 seconds left of the final episode tears were literally running down my face.
Bravo script writer! I hate you and love you at the same time.
By the way, when you watch this on iQIYI you won’t be able to leave comments hence there doesn’t seem to be many people who’ve seen this production.
Would I watch this again? ABSOLUTELY
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Sweet and very watchable rom com with insane chemistry
What’s not to love about a sweet rom com? This one has it all, sad bits, bad guys, adorable female lead, brooding male lead, happy ending.The chemistry between ML & FL is really believable and that of the second (and third) is also excellent casting. All three couples face their challenges but as you’d expect it all works out in the end.
The acting is very convincing and the chemistry hot, hot, hot. The scene where the main pair reunite after the FL gets lost on the way to the mountains is absolutely breathtaking and you can feel the relief, love and true connection when he starts kissing her all over her face. When the second ML finds out he could be dying I will admit to lots of tissue use!
This is not a ground breaking piece but if you want some light relief filled with fluff then you good do a lot worse than watch this one.
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